When you watch an episode of Dark Side of the Ring, you should expect what you're about to see to be pretty dark. It's right there in the name. However, this week's episode all about Grizzly Smith and his wrestling family took the show's representation of dark to a whole new level. If you're unfamiliar with Grizzly, especially when it comes to his life outside of the ring, then this episode will have been incredibly shocking. Actually, it would have been even if you do know about Grizzly's past.

Grizzly was a wrestler throughout the '60s and '70s before crossing over into the booking side of the business after retirement. He's the father of Jake Roberts, Rockin' Robin, and Sam Houston, all of whom followed in his footsteps. The episode focuses on all their individual stories, as well as their brother Richard who had no interest in doing what his father did for a living.

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Wrestling's Secret Family

Wrestling can very much be a family business for those who want it to be. Jim Cornette runs down some of the industry's most famous families. The McMahons, The Harts, the Von Erichs. The Smiths can also be included on that list, but at the height of their fame, no one outside of wrestling even knew they were related. In fact, a lot of fans still don't realize that.

Even the siblings themselves didn't want to acknowledge it. To this day, the four of them have an incredibly strained relationship. Jake is the first to go into detail about how his father treated him, first detailing his troubled path into the business. Grizzly would often tell Jake that he would never make it as a wrestler, even getting him fired from certain promotions and territories.

jake roberts and snake

Jake mentions that his wrestling career has been fueled by hate a number of times throughout the episode. It starts here with his dad telling him he would never make it. Jake would give it his all in the ring, come back to the locker room bloodied, but still get nothing from his dad. All he wanted was for Grizzly to tell him he was proud of him. Despite the heights Jake would reach, that never happened, even though Grizzly would say it to others.

Aurelian Smith Went Away A Long Time Ago

Jake reveals that his real name is Aurelian Smith Jr. and jokes about viewers now understanding why he changed his name. However, he then reveals that he hasn't been Aurelian since he was 13. It was too hard to be Aurelian from that point on and the memories from his early life still make it too hard for him to be anyone other than Jake more than 40 years later.

Jake reveals that his mom was 13 when he was born, another dark part of the Smiths' family history that very few fans would have been aware of. It's then that he refers to Grizzly as a pedophile and the dark theme of the episode truly begins. Jake lived with his grandmother until the age of 11, while his other siblings lived elsewhere. Richard was put up for adoption.

When Jake's grandma died, Jake had to return home and lived with Grizzly and his new wife, who was also very young. Jake recalls being sexually abused by his new step-mom. He attempted to tell his dad about it one day, to which Grizzly's wife responded by physically assaulting Jake. Little did he know at the time that not only did Grizzly know all about what was happening to Jake, but he was doing the same thing to Robin.

Rockin' Robin

The focus then shifts to Robin. The former Women's Champion explains how her dad was effectively working her when she was eight. Completely ignoring her and acting as if he hated her. After a month, it flipped that on its head, showered her with affection. That's when the abuse started, and it would go on for six years.

rockin robin
via WWE

This is where the differing stories start to conflict. Robin's mom was the woman Jake claims was abusing him under the same roof. However, after six years of abuse, when Robin told her mom what had been happening, she took her daughter and left. Robin believes that if what Jake is saying really happened, that Grizzly would have been the one pulling the strings and forcing her to do it.

The Kidnapping Of Jo-Lynn Smith

Grizzly actually had a fifth child, Jo-Lynn. At 18, Jo-Lynn was already married with a child of her own. However, it was at that same age that she was kidnapped. Her husband's ex-wife was arrested and convicted for her kidnapping and served seven years in prison. However, since Jo-Lynn's body was never found, neither her kidnapper nor anyone else was ever charged with her murder. Her body remains missing to this day.

Robin and Richard speak of their suspicions that Grizzly had something to do with Jo-Lynn's disappearance. Robin says part of her thinks he was afraid Jo-Lynn would tell people about the abuse she suffered as a child so Grizzly eliminated the problem. Richard mentions that it was odd he never saw his dad torn up and crying about Jo-Lynn's disappearance.

The family remained connected yet unconnected at the same time. In fact, there was a point where Grizzly, Jake, Robin, and Sam were all under the employ of WWE at the same time. Robin recalls a time after she had left home when Grizzly turned up at her door with a nine-year-old girl. He asked Robin to make her a daiquiri, but she told him she didn't have the ingredients.

grizzly jake and robin
via Her Moments

Robin stayed up with the little girl the entire night, picking up on the signs that Grizzly was likely treating her the same way as she had been treated as a child. When Grizzly left the next morning, Robin refused to let him take the girl.

Genetic Addiction

Jake has been open and honest about his problems with addiction, and he adds even more layers to that dark period of his life during this episode. He admits that for 20 years, cocaine was the most important thing in his life. Even more important than his wives and his children. Footage of a Heroes of Wrestling show Jake wrestled on in 1999 is shown, during which he is clearly in rough shape and probably doesn't even know where he is.

Sam had his own battle with addiction, getting slapped with numerous DUIs but was always bailed out thanks to Grizzly's connections. It eventually reached a point where his dad couldn't help him anymore and he went to jail. After just two days, Sam tried and failed to kill himself, taking the knot in the noose he had tied snapping as a sign. Robin speaks briefly about her issues with alcoholism but doesn't go into deeper detail.

Grizzly would pass away in 2010 at the age of 77. Richard was the only one who had any connection with him at the time and became visibly emotional when discussing his death. Jake and Robin wanted nothing to do with him, for obvious reasons, and Sam was in prison at the time of Grizzly's passing. He never apologized to Jake or Robin for what he put them through. The four siblings are still distant to this day but are hopeful this episode will bring them closer together.

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